


Temptation Greets You Like A Naughty Mate

by orphan_account



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, Student!Charles, Student!Erik
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-05 03:46:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a first year university student, Charles Xavier is excited to get away from his step-father and brother and start a life of his own, one away from the constant oppression. His excitement wanes when he meet's his Community Advisor, Erik Lehnsherr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meeting

There were no words to explain how excited Charles Xavier truly was, he would finally be free. No one at the university would know who he was, or who his family was, and he would keep it that way, here he would just be Charles and he would be allowed to pursue what he really loved; genetics. As the driver pulled up to the residence hall, Charles felt his heart stop. What if he wasn't liked? What if everyone hated him because of who he was not because of his family or because they were scared of Cain, but because they genuinely disliked him. He was suddenly very nervous as he stepped out of the car, suitcase in hand. The driver left without so much as a word, and Charles was alone. _You can do this_ , he told himself, as he chewed at his bottom lip. A nervous hand ran through his hair as he entered the building that he would be living in for the next eight months, a girl - probably only a year or so older than him - waved him over to the counter she was sat behind. 

She was pretty enough, with silky, long brown hair that suited her skin stone and lovely hazel eyes that he might have found attractive if he enjoyed the company of girl, he could appreciate her beauty all the same, she smiled at him in a manner that might indicate that she was interested in him, but he shook the thought from his mind, she was probably this friendly to everyone she helped. "Can I help you check in?" Her last word dragged on in a way that indicated that she was waiting for a name.

"Charles," he nodded firmly, adjusting the messenger bag strap around his shoulder. "I'm not entirely sure what to do," he admitted, sheepishly. She let out a small giggle, before placing a list of names in front of him, all beginning with C.

"Find yourself on the list and we'll get you started from there." He learned that her name was Natalie and that she liked his accent very much and wanted to go study in England for a semester before she gave him his keys and student identification, clearly reluctant to let him go, he flashed her a polite smile before hurrying off to his room on the fifth floor. The room was large enough, with a single bed and a bookcase that he was sure he would eventually fill up, there was also a note written on the window and mirror in the room, the window informing Charles of a floor meeting in two hours and the mirror welcoming him to his new home. It was clearly a very uniform room, but he loved it all the same, because it was his and he could easily make it his own. He had been lucky enough to secure a single room, with his mother proclaiming that no son of hers would share a room with someone else like a commoner, but he almost felt as if it hindered his experience, like everyone else would have this person that they could go to in any case. But then again, he supposed that roommates weren't all like that and some were probably worse than having to deal with the initial feeling of not having anyone else you know in your home. 

The room was well under way by the time he heard a knock at the door, his heart sped up at the sound. Cautiously, he opened the door to reveal a boy, around his age, maybe a little younger. He was tall, though, with dark hair and soft blue eyes hidden behind glasses, Charles smiled widely at the boy. "Hello?" His voice gave away his nerves and the other boy seemed almost startled that he had spoken. 

"H-Hi," the boy seemed nearly as nervous as he was, "I'm Hank, I, uh, I live next to you." Hank managed to let out a shy smile and Charles had to appreciate the amount of courage it must've taken him to even approach Charles, he wasn't so sure that he could do it himself. He found himself already being fond of his neighbour. 

"Charles," he smiled fondly up at the boy, "I'm sure we'll become good friends," the dark haired boy seem to respond well to that, beaming down at Charles, nodding somewhat enthusiastically. "I'm studying genetics, what about you, Hank?"

"Oh, me too," he responded enthusiastically, which led to a further conversation comparing schedules to see if they had any classes together, which in fact, three out of five of Charles' lectures were with Hank. His previous excitement for university returned to him and he was very aware that this year was going to be very good to him, the people were significantly better, if Hank was any sort of indicator. Unfortunately, after ten minutes of idle chat, Hank had to leave in order to set up his room, Charles supposed that he should finish up his room too. 

As Charles fussed over the finishing details of his room, he couldn't help but smile to himself. It was already feeling like home, his posters were littered across the wall, his bed spread seemed almost too inviting and he honestly felt like he could live in the room for as long as he could, he never quite understood the whole hatred that people had towards dorm rooms, he always found the idea wonderful, the idea of living with a bunch of people from all different walks of life who wanted to do something better, the idea always inspired him and his opinion of it now had not diminished. He glanced at the clock, noticing that it was only ten minutes until there was the floor meeting, he hesitated realizing that there would be a large amount of people out there, probably all mingling and trying to make friends before the floor meeting started. He felt his stomach lurch again but he was determined to make friends, he shook off his hands before leaving his room and entering the common area.

The first thing he noticed was Hank talking to a group of people and he figured that that would be the prime place for him to begin, he tentatively approached the group with an awkward wave introducing himself as Charles, there were  five people including Hank: a girl with a large amount of bright red hair, Jean, a rather attractive boy - no, man - with scruffy black hair and dark eyes, Tony, another boy, Scott, with more angular features who he supposed was also attractive but in a more broody way, and a blonde girl who seemed rather shy, Raven. He tried to take note of all the names, but he knew amongst the excitement and the amount of people he would meet, he was bound to forget almost everyone`s names. Although, he was certain that he would remember both Tony and Hank`s names. He smiled shyly as they asked what major he was in, after finding out that Jean and Scott were in chemistry, Tony was in engineering and Raven was in fine arts. He got along astonishingly well with the group, while they were all rather different, it seemed like there was already a good rapport amongst them. Tony and Scott were roommates, Jean`s roommate, Ororo, hadn`t appeared yet and Raven also had a single. Charles was very aware that these people were going to be his friends (and potentially one of them could be more than that), he tried to make some of his intentions clear, directing questions towards Tony, trying to see his response, a lot of which were rather flirty, and if he was being honest, Charles would be content with just that, a flirty friendship, after all, he had very little experience in such matters and he was sure that Tony would have a ridiculous amount of boys and girls falling at his feet. Charles couldn`t really compete with that, not really with his floppy brown hair that never seemed to do what he wanted and he was on the small and awkward side of the scale, someone as confident and attractive as Tony would never want him. 

Charles tugged nervously on his sweater as the conversation continued trying to weigh his chances of getting Tony to notice him, but he stopped himself, deciding that he didn`t want to be in a relationship of any sort (even one-sided) until he was settled in his new life and until he was confident with himself, he gave himself a firm nod, but then Tony winked at him -- probably after saying some dirty joke, he wasn`t really listening -- and that promise was out the window. As Charles was trying to return his heart rate to normal, a loud cough was heard over the crowd of people talking. "Please take a seat on the floor," a loud voice announced, a hint of an accent in the voice, something that Charles couldn't quite locate with the few words that were said, as everyone took a seat, an older student, Charles assumed he was probably a year or two older than everyone there, was revealed and God, if Charles could tear his eyes away it would be a miracle. The man was built like a god, with shorter, ash-coloured hair and striking green - no grey, eyes. 

"My name is Erik Lehnsherr," German, then. "You may call me Erik, I will be your Community Advisor for the year, if you have any problems academic, personal, or just want a chat, you could come to me," although, the way he said it clearly indicated that that was not the case, in the corner of his eye he could see some girls giggling, he fought the need to glare at them as he watched the man speak, entranced by his voice but mostly his eyes. His eyes grazed over Charles' and Charles could swear that he almost died right there and then, only when Erik looked away did his life return to him.  He pressed the palm of his hand against his mouth, chewing nervously at his sweater which seemed to draw Lehnsherr's gaze back towards him, but he quickly removed that thought from his head, determining that there's no way that anything he could do would draw the attractive, older man's attention. And oh god, he was a slut, first Tony, now Erik. Clearly he had problems with attractive men in his life, he should just hide himself away and become a nun-- priest. That would work, and then he wouldn't have to worry about attractive men wanting or not wanting him.

Erik went over the rules for the dorms, all of which were common sense and Charles was quite glad that they were in place but he heard a couple of groans from different people in the room, when he was done, he dismissed everyone. Charles tried to muster up the courage to go talk to him, he struggled with himself internally for a while before deciding that he had nothing to lose. "Hi, I'm Charles," he hadn't meant for his name to come out as a squeak, but it did as Erik turned around as he spoke, his hand outstretched. Erik raised an eyebrow, looking down at Charles' hand before taking it tentatively. "Pleasure," he muttered quickly before retreating back to his room. Charles felt utterly defeated, but surely he'd just have to try again tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter to get it going, but hopefully it's okay! I haven't written anything in a while, so it might be a little terrible, but it'll get better. This story will probably end up being fluff... Sorry.


	2. Never Have I Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Charles is drunk and Erik is a dick.

 

Charles would be lying if he said that he wasn't disappointed when Erik walked away from him, he was expecting something more but there wasn't much he could do about that. Somewhat depressed, he walked back to his new friends, shoulders slightly slumped.

"Not such a friendly guy, eh?" Jean said smiling, as if trying to cheer Charles up, "He helped me move some of my stuff in, he was very cold, I'm sure he would've killed me if he could." Charles laughed, but he still felt a little upset and dejected.

"You shouldn't waste your time on him, Charles," Tony chimed in, which again didn't help, but Charles appreciated the effort that his friends were putting in to make him feel better even though they hadn't known him for very long. Charles smiled, trying to not be too bothered by the whole situation. 

He shrugged, playing with his sweater again. "I guess it doesn't matter," his words clearly weren't fooling anyone, but everyone let him be all the same. Luckily, Scott was all too happy to change the topic of conversation.

"What do you guys say to getting to know each other better?" his grin suggested that his way of doing so wasn't exactly innocent, the rest of the gang seemed eager so Charles went along with it, nodding enthusiastically, but he was worried that it would be something potentially embarrassing that would end with him losing all of his new found friends. "Never Have I Ever," Scott continued, "I have a fake, so I can get alcohol for us if you don't have any already," he smiled eagerly, Charles, at least, knew how the game worked, and figured he could probably get by without embarrassing himself too much, so he agreed to it. Besides, if it meant getting to know everyone better, he was all for it.

 

* * *

 

Charles turned up at Scott and Tony's door with a bottle of wine in his backpack, he looked around nervously, feeling inexplicably guilty, which he knew was ridiculous. This was university after all, everyone knows that everyone drinks in university. Unfortunately, he also knew that he didn't have much experience with alcohol and was most likely a light-weight and would probably do something extremely embarrassing. Still, his nerves eased as Tony opened the door, greeting him with a familiar _"Charlie Boy"_ , his breath laced with the smell of alcohol. He smiled nervously as he entered the room, he used to not really like the name Charlie, but he didn't mind the way Tony said it, without a hint of malice. Jean, Scott, Hank and Raven were all already in there, and a few others, a darker skinned girl with shockingly white hair, who Charles would be lying if he said she wasn't attractive, and a gruff looking guy covered in hair who was also sort of attractive in a really dangerous way. Jean introduced the girl as Ororo, her roommate, and the guy as Logan. He smiled pleasantly at them both and received a smile from Ororo but a roll of the eyes from Logan, he made a mental note to maybe try to stay away from him to ensure that he actually lived 'til the end of the school year. 

"Alright," Scott said, grinning, "now that everyone is here, it's time to play. Usually you drink if you've done whatever the person has said, but this time we're going to play it the other way around, so the people with less experience get more drunk. Sounds Fair?" Charles groaned inwardly at that, he'd probably be smashed before the end of the hour. "We'll have to be quiet though, if you didn't notice already, the Shark is in the room next to us."

Charles frowned at the use of the word, "The Shark?" he questioned, confused.

"Lehnsherr," Tony replied, tapping his nose. "Did you see those teeth?" he let out a laugh, and Charles smiled, he was sure Erik wasn't that bad, he was probably just in a bad mood during the meeting, maybe he was tired. But that didn't matter, right now it was time to focus on his friends and the game. "I'll go first," Tony announced, with an evil grin. He took a long sip of rum from the bottle before chasing it with some cola, "Never have I ever had sex in the back of a pick up truck." He grinned. Everyone but Logan drunk, he shrugged when everyone looked at him for explanation. 

"Couldn't wait." Was all he said, as if that explained everything, Charles chuckled lightly as he looked at the wine bottle in his hand. He felt utterly unclassy drinking from the bottle, but something about that made him want to do it more, he didn't want to have to follow in the footsteps that his family made, after all, why should he want to end up like his mother? Or like Kurt or Cain? He despised them all and wanted nothing to do with them anymore.

Jean went next. "Never have I ever _liked_ someone of the same sex," she giggled as she took a drink. Charles hesitated, debating whether he should take the drink or not. He decided that he would stand his ground, that things would be different than high school. Much to his surprise, Tony, Raven, Ororo, and Logan didn't take a drink either. He felt a stupid grin cross his face, his eyes met Tony's and he could've sworn that he saw something there. But he quickly looked away, colour coming to his cheeks which he would blame the alcohol for. Scott, apparently out of vengeance, then said "Never have I ever not been straight." Charles proudly took a drink for that one, it sounded silly, but it almost made him feel safe knowing that it was pretty much accepted that he was gay here, even if that should've been the norm. It was just nice to know that he didn't really have to hide who he was. He'd only had the two drinks, granted they had been a couple of mouthfuls, but he could already feel the alcohol getting to him. Or maybe he was just thinking that it was affecting him, either way, he felt good and decided that he liked it.

The game went on like that for quite a while, and Charles was getting quite drunk, his thoughts were cloudy and it was really only just hitting him how drunk he was. But he liked it, it was almost like he felt free of all the pressure he felt before, he felt so at home with these people, which didn't seem right considering that he'd only known them a maximum of four hours, but he knew that these people would be his family and he was perfectly fine with it. It was his turn again and he was almost out of things but then, because of how drunk he was, he admitted something that he wasn't particularly happy about, but was his only option. "Never have I ever been kissed." For a second everyone just sort of blinked at him, and he smiled sheepishly, but before he knew it, Tony was on top of him, lips pressed against his. His eyes must've grew two sizes, and his face must've been a rather embarrassing shade of red, but he somehow managed to relax slightly, his hand moving up to touch Tony's shoulder awkwardly. The door swung open violently to a very confused Erik Lehnsherr.

"What are you all doing in my room?" His accent was heavier and it was obvious that he had drunk a fair amount, his gaze moved across the room 'til it met Charles and Tony, who pulled apart quickly, he frowned slightly before glancing up to the door. " _Mein gott_ , I'm sorry," he whispered quickly stumbling back out the door.

Charles was more than a little stunned, his eyes wide, blinking far less than normal. He turned to face, Tony, his face still red. "How was your first kiss?" he winked. Charles thought he might die.

* * *

 

Erik didn't know why he agreed to be a CA thinking about it now it seemed like a rather stupid idea, he hated people, he didn't want to be the person that people went to when they had problems, he really couldn't care less. He was really only here for the free accommodation and meal plan, other than that he would've never applied for the position, his CA last year had managed to stay out of most of the affairs of the floor and so had he for that matter, he was sure that if he presented himself as unapproachable enough people wouldn't try to talk to him.  That was certainly something he could do, unapproachable was basically his defining trait. By the time he left his room, they were already all squirming around the common area, mingling, all so desperate to make friends, it was almost pathetic. He scanned the crowd quickly, a flash of blue catching his eye. He stared for a second, there was no way that anyone's eyes were that shade. He shook of the thought, he didn't care. After managing to get the kids to settle down and take a seat, he started his speech, making sure to look as menacing as possible, he could see some people were annoyed by him already and some were scared of him, unfortunately some of the girls were clearly attracted. That would be an annoyance he noted, as his eyes caught that blue again.

Huh, so they did belong to a person, someone with annoying adorable floppy brown hair and wide blue eyes like all he wanted was a pat on the head and to be accepted. Erik already decided that he hated the kid, even if he was attractive, he would also be annoying with his sweaters and he was probably sweet too. Erik hated that, he continued with his speech, tearing his eyes away from the boy but he was still aware of him in his peripheral, he saw a movement and his eyes snapped back. Jesus Christ, the kid looked like a god damn puppy dog, chewing on his sweater that was clearly a couple of sizes too large for him, it was frustrating, he would be, by far, the worst person to deal with on the floor. He'd probably have ridiculous problems like having too many potential girls to choose from and how could he possibly decide. Yes, Erik decided, I will make sure that one avoids me the most. He finished his speech, much more annoyed than when he started, he moved to head back to his room, hoping that no one would disturb him. But then suddenly he heard the quiet distinguished voice and he whipped around. Of course it would be the boy with the eyes. _Charles,_ he corrected. God, those eyes weren't natural, it was like they could see right through him. He took the hand tentatively, trying to put the kid off as much as possible. "Pleasure," he said, not quite trusting himself to say anything else, he turned away, storming into his room.

God, if he was going to get through these next eight months with these kids, he was going to have to have a lot of alcohol. He called up his best friend, Emma Frost. "Want to get drunk?" was all he said before he was getting ready to go out to the bar.

By the time he returned he was absolutely hammered, he quickly stumbled through the building, trying to find his way to his room until eventually he burst into it, only to see a whole bunch of his students in there, he swore to himself. Who did they think they were, entering his room without his permission? He was about to explode until he saw the puppy dog kissing that one guy, he scowled, he didn't need to see that. He didn't care about them or their relationship, they could fuck and it still wouldn't be any of his concern. He'd lost his track of thought, but then he realized that none of the furniture was his, he felt a wave of embarrassment crash over him as he realized the names that were on the door. He quickly apologised before stumbling back into his actual room. He was still angry as he stripped off his clothes and got into his bed, he absolutely did not fall asleep thinking of bright blue eyes and plush red lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of like this chapter.


	3. Operation: Erik

Charles woke with a terrible headache, he tried to roll over and go back to sleep but the sun was bearing down on his face and he doubted that he could get any sleep with the raging pounding of his head. He groaned loudly before rolling out of his bed, pulling on some clothes quickly as he glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked a mess, his hair was sticking up in all different directions, his eyes were red and looked as if he hadn't slept in five days. He let out a defeated sigh, unsure of how to make himself look any better, he decided that he would settle with just fixing his hair and he would then be somewhat presentable. He combed his fingers through his hair several times before he eventually gave up, being a little more dramatic than the situation really called for. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, he hesitated before opening the door, not wanting to see people in his state.

"Come on Charles, I know you're in there," Raven called through the door, he sighed. He opened the door to reveal the blonde beaming at him, "Do you want to get some breakfast - you look like you could use it," which he figured was her way of telling him that he looked like shit, "we can talk about last night?" The way she was looking at him suggested that she most likely wanted to talk about Tony kissing him, which he wouldn't mind talking about, it wasn't exactly his best moment - but still an attractive man had kissed him, he had to grin stupidly at that as he reluctantly agreed to go to breakfast with Raven.

He found that he actually quite liked Raven, desite her meddling ways,  and the breakfast helped with his head a lot. They spoke a little about how their friend group, Raven made a bet that Jean and Scott would be together within the month and Charles denied them having any chemistry. She then proceeded to tease him about Tony and what he was going to do about it.

"Well it was sort of a pity kiss, wasn't it?" he hadn't meant for it to come out with a tone of bitterness but it did.

Raven looked at him like he was an idiot, "anyone would be lucky to kiss you, I'm sure he just saw his opportunity and then took it. You're totally hot, in the whole innocent puppy kind of way, you know?" Charles blushed, he didn't know. No one had ever called him hot before, he'd always thought he was more on the average side of things, perhaps a bit lower on the scale. "Trust me, besides Tony's a total flirt, I'm sure he'll try something with you again soon enough." She let out a little giggle, "you just seem to be really bad at reading people." 

"If only I was a telepath," he groaned, shoving a fork full of scrambled eggs into his mouth, "then I would know exactly what everyone thought of me, even Erik." As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it, he didn't even have to look at the blonde to know that she had one eyebrow arched, expecting to know more. 

"Is that why you're so upset? Because he walked in on you kissing Tony?" She smirked, her voice almost mocking and Charles felt him turn a shade of red.

"No, don't be ridiculous, Raven. I just, I mean it's not like he cares, he's our community advisor, I'm sure he doesn't worry about who I've kissed." He mumbled, shuffling some of the food around on his plate.

"Oh my god," she said, a tad too loudly, his eyes shot up, mentally telling her to shut up, "I thought you had the hots for Tony, but you want Erik. Oh that is just so perfect, we have to figure out some sort of way to get you two together," Raven prattled on, clearly too excited by the prospect of Erik and Charles together, which only made Charles feel worse, he lifted a hand to signal her to stop.

"It's not like that -- I'm pretty sure he hates me and we don't even know if he's gay." His voice was cracking too much for his liking, it wasn't that he was annoyed by Raven or what she was saying, but it was giving him false hope, and he really didn't need to be crushed by their CA and then ridiculed further by his floor. He would just let this little crush - or rather attraction - fade out quickly, after all, all it had taken was him seeing Erik to stop thinking about Tony. Clearly, he was rather shallow when it came to finding someone that he wanted to be with. But maybe, if what Raven was saying was true. He could probably find a way to develop more of an attraction to Tony, kindle that flame rather than try with Erik and most certainly get shot down. 

"Oh don't be silly, Charles, you're adorable, everyone is going to like you." She smiled, "I'll come up with a plan, until then, try to seduce him with your charms. That whole puppy dog thing seems to be really working on people." 

"Oh god, shut up," Charles mumbled, face flushing a deeper shade of red. "We should probably head back now," he just really wanted to go and hide under his covers and avoid both Erik and Tony. He had been so optimistic about the year too, and already he was hiding from people.

* * *

Of course, with Charles' luck, Tony was in the common room when he and Raven returned. He smiled brightly at them, but Charles only managed to blush and run away after giving him an awkward wave.  "Hey Charles, wait up," he groaned and forced his legs to stop moving and then suddenly Tony was right there in front of him, "Look I'm sorry about last night, if you're upset or anything, but I figured you'd be up for it considering, well, I guess I just thought it wasn't a big deal," Charles smiled, bringing himself to look Tony in the eyes, he was glad that this didn't seem to be too awkward and he was about to respond when Tony continued, "but I'm also not very sorry, because god, those lips are soft and I was the first person to experience them," he winked at Charles again before walking off, and Charles just sort of stood there shocked, before his mind caught up with his ears and he could feel his cheeks burning as his hand went to touch his lips tentatively before rushing off to his room to calm down.

In his room, Charles tried to comprise all this new data like he would a lab report, he had very little information. He knew that he was attracted to both Tony and Erik, but he was more attracted to Erik. He knew that the chances of anything happening between him and Erik were near to nothing, considering the man was an impenatrable fortress that seemed to hate him, but he also knew that Tony was probably interested in him, even if it was just as an experiment of his own. Knowing this he would have to formulate a plan on how to proceed and what his best course of action was, although a small part of his brain managed to ruin everything by pointing out that he also had thought that he was out of Tony's league and here he was. Charles sighed, flopping down onto his bed, he clearly needed more solid data before he pursued any course of action, although considering his situation, maybe it was best to not think about love interests at all and just work hard in school, after all it had barely been two days and he was trying to decide what guy he should go for. Besides, it was entirely possible that Tony just got a thrill from being the first and that was hardly an interest in Charles, but more of an interest in the idea of Charles.

He needed to stop thinking, his head was pounding and he just wanted to sleep it off and hope that everything would go away. Although, he supposed that if his worst problem at the moment was whether or not one of his potential crushes liked him or not, he was in a lot better of a place than he was a year ago. He had to smile at that thought, he supposed it couldn't be too bad after all, it's not like he really needed to decide, he could just continue what he was doing and everything would be alright. However, he would have to change Erik's opinion of him, he would hate it if they weren't, at the very least acquaintances, he knew that he was determined to make Erik like him and so operation: Erik would begin. After all, Raven had said that he was adorable, surely he could convince someone to like him. 

* * *

 

Erik's head was not kind to him, he and Emma had gone drink for drink last night, and damn if that woman could drink. Annoyed, he slid himself out of bed, deciding that the best thing for him to do would be to work off the hangover, go for a run and clear his head. After all, he was sure he embarrassed himself last night, although he was a little fuzzy on the details after Emma had walked him back to the building, but he was fine with not remembering, he didn't care too much about what he had done, it couldn't have been too bad, he was never that stupid when he was drunk, he was just coming out of his room, dressed for his run when he noticed Charles and a blonde coming back. He really hated Charles, what eighteen year old wore sweaters two sizes too large that were clearly made for old men, but yet looked as if he was sixteen and constantly lost, he was a ridiculous human being who was far too strange for his own good. Erik groaned, hoping that he wouldn't try to talk to him, luckily for him, he noticed that Charles was distracted by another boy, who looked more his age than Charles did, more defined Erik noted, he seemed to make the boy more flustered, and Erik couldn't believe the shade of red that he turned, surely this boy didn't actually exist. Enraged, he quickly tore his eyes away from the scene and went to go for his daily run. 

While his run usually served to clear his mind, he couldn't quite get Charles out of his mind, which only seemed to anger him further. He was twenty-one years old, damn it, he should be able to concentrate and just let himself run, but apparently not. The boy just looked so innocent, and it almost scared Erik how much he felt like protecting him, especially from the dark haired boy, whose name begun with a 'T' but he couldn't quite remember it. God that was annoying, he didn't want anything to do with his students, they were simply there as part of his job to help him get free accommodation and food. He growled, realizing that he wouldn't accomplish much on this run before returning back to the building. He let out a small growl as someone tried to approach him before retreating to his room, he hated this damned place. Why did he ever think this was a good idea, he hated that he wanted to take care of Charles, but mostly he just hated how attractive he thought Charles was despite his innocence and baggy sweaters. God, if he made it through the next year without doing anything stupid, he'd be a happy man.

He decided to get his mind of things by blasting music far too loud for him to think, and he sent a quick text Emma's way.

 _Erik:_ I hate everything. Why are first years so annoying?

 _Emma:_ They're not that bad. You're basically getting rent free to put up with them, don't complain.

 _Erik:_ Fair, but I'm starting to learn their names. 

 _Emma:_ Isn't that the point of being an Advisor? To know them and take care of them?

 _Erik:_ Hmm. Not helping.

 _Emma_ : You know I'm right.

He didn't know why he thought Emma would help, of course she would be reasonable where he was being psychotic, clearly there was something wrong with him, he just needed to fuck something to get rid of all the pent up tension, he hadn't gotten laid in a while. That was probably why he was interested in Charles, because he was an attractive face with a pretty set of eyes and lips. He clearly just needed to go pick some young looking boy up at the bar, maybe one with blue eyes and floppy brown hair. As he was getting ready, pulling on the set of jeans that he knew made his ass look good and a simple graphic t-shirt that had gotten him laid before, there was a knock at the door. He cursed silently opening the door, only to reveal the subject of his grievances. 

"Charles," he said cooling, not oblivious to the fact that the boys eyes widened at the sight of him. 

"Uhm, I just wanted to - uh," the boy stuttered, his face flushing slightly, "get off on the right foot, I guess, we are going to be, uh, living together for the next eight months and I would like to be your friend." The boy looked like he expected to be killed, already shying away slightly from Erik. And of course he wanted to be friends, what else would the boy want, Erik growled slightly.

"Yes, sure, whatever," he groaned, Charles eyes lit up instantly. God, he hated this kid. Charles fumbled around in his pockets for something before eventually pulling out his phone, Erik frowned, surely he didn't want his number.

"Could I maybe...?" Charles' voice trailed off and Erik almost dropped his jaw, the kid was unreal. He grabbed the phone quickly putting in his number, even though he really should've declined but he figured this would be the easiest way to get rid of him. Charles quickly hurried off and Erik quickly left, more determined to find someone in his bed by the end of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the Kudos and the Bookmarks and the Subscriptions :)


	4. Red Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I am so sorry for how long this took -- I promise I'll be more regular so a slightly longer than usual chapter here!

Despite the lean figure underneath him, -- who was, by all rights attractive beyond belief-- the only thing Erik could think of was Charles' smile when he'd given him his number, the way his lips glistened from the swipe of his tongue. As Erik thrusted into the almost-Charles beneath him, he let out a frustrated grunt before flipping him over, not wanting to look at his face anymore, and before he realized it he imagined himself pounding into Charles, and as soon as the thought crossed his mind, it was over. He groaned, pushing the boy away from him. "Get out," he growled, the boy looked offended before Erik raised his eyebrows at him and suddenly the kid was scrambling for his clothes and departing, never to be seen again. Erik groaned, pushing his face into his pillow in a futile attempt to suffocate himself.

* * *

Erik awoke to the loud banging at his door, his head pounding and his mouth dry. He glanced at the clock, shit, it was already passed noon, and the knocking hadn't stopped. He quickly pulled himself out of bed, ready to scare away the person at the door. As he swung the door open, it only revealed one Emma Frost, who was looking decently pissed and pushed past him. 

"Really, Erik? It's 2.p.m, I don't want to be spending more time here than I have to." 

Erik found himself stumbling an apology before stopping himself, "I didn't ask you here, Emma."

"Not in so many words, no. But as your best friend and with you having your paedophile crisis, what was I supposed to do, let you suffer by yourself?"

Erik could feel his cheeks colouring, "I'm not a paedophile, Emma. I'm not interested in the boy, not really?"

"And the boy you fucked last night? Was he someone you're not interested in as well?"

"Emma --" 

"I have eyes and ears everywhere, Erik. Besides, you were bound to tell me and I must say, I don't approve, he was barely legal."

Erik paused, he hated Emma when it was like this, she was so blatantly right that he wanted to hurl something at her or him. He'd thought that it would help him, but it only made matters worse and he still had to see Charles' face every day. He growled and Emma's lips turned into a smirk, god he hated that smirk.  

"Look, he's attractive and just really fucking adorable and it's just a little bit of pent up energy, it'll go away," it came out more as him trying to convince himself than Emma, he wasn't fooling anyone, he let out a low growl as he took in Emma's face, "well what do you want me to do about it then?"

"The way I see it Erik, aside from quitting your job, there's nothing you can do."

Well that certainly wasn't what he was expecting, perhaps some wise and wonderful insight that would solve his problem, but nothing? "Then why the fuck did you come here then?" he growled, "you don't approve and theres nothing I can do about it, this has been a wonderful talk, Emma, really." He could feel his teeth grinding together as he watched the blonde, she only seemed to become more amused the angrier he got, it was rather infuriating. 

She gave a little amused chuckle before speaking, "Well, I suppose I came to torture you, Erik. I have to go, don't do anything stupid."

_Fat chance of that,_ he mused before seeing Emma out of his room. 

* * *

 

Charles found himself alone on campus, trying to get a sense of where everything was, unfortunately, he found himself terribly lost and unsure how to get back to the apartment buildings, he sighed, silently cursing himself for being an idiot and not letting anyone come with him, determined to be the independent. He was sure he was near the biology complex somewhere, but it was probably best that he just stayed where he was -- maybe find someone who could help direct him back to the buildings. Just as he was sitting down a group of guys passed him, they all seemed far to absorbed in their conversation to notice him, but Charles figured that he'd have to at least try and grab their attention.

"Sorry, ehm, excuse me," Charles asked, loud enough for the group to turn around, he was almost proud of himself, "Do you know how I can get back to the dorms?"

He fiddled with the sleeve of his cardigan, as one of the boys stepped forward to speak, Charles felt his heart pounding as he feared the worst, but then the boy smiled and Charles let out the breath he wasn't aware he was holding and suddenly everything seemed a lot better.

"Yeah, sure, we'll help you out, we were heading there anyway," the other boys mumbled words of agreement behind him and Charles felt a smile spread across his face.

"Great, I'm, uh, Charles, it's a pleasure." He held out a hand for a handshake, suddenly recalling his introduction to a certain CA, his mood darkened a little but the other boy took his hand.

"Mitchell Beacom," Mitchell smiled back at Charles and suddenly he felt ridiculous for ever thinking that he was in trouble.

The other boys mumbled names, but Charles didn't exactly pick up on any of them, it was clear, in any case that Mitchell was the leader of the group and he was elated to have made friends outside of the hall.

The conversation flowed easily on their walk, and Charles was surprised to find that he was sharing more information with the boys than was necessary about his family situation and how things were going now that he was on his own, despite the fact he was originally determined not to share details of his family history with anyone, but it just seemed like the appropriate thing to do to fill the time.

After about ten minutes, Charles stopped, frowning, he had been so engrossed in the conversation he hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, he glanced around at his surroundings, nothing was familiar. "Is this the way to the dorms?" He asked, his uncertainty clear in his voice as he started to pull on the edge of his sweater once more. 

"Yeah, don't worry, just a quicker route," Mitchell replied, putting Charles at ease, he managed a quick smile before hurrying to catch up to the group, "tell me more about your brother, Charles?"

Charles felt his heart drop a little as he spoke about Cain Marko, but nonetheless it was always good to get it out, finally be able to speak about the way he was treated for the past decade or so of his life, it was almost liberating. He spoke of how he was bullied and terrorized by his step-brother not only at home but at school too and that was why he never had many friends growing up, Mitchell and his group seemed very interested, asking more questions and Charles was more than happy to answer. It was nice to have people that were willing to listen, even if they were outsiders, that almost made it easier, them not having the same bias as someone involved would. All the same, it appeared to be helping Charles and he was quite sure that these boys would become good friends, they had been kind to him, listening without too much complaint to his life story -- he was sure it was boring, after all.

However, as another car passed them and Charles' attention was brought, once more, to the surroundings he knew for certain that they were not near the dorms at all, they must be quite aways from campus. He frowned. "You're not taking me back to the dorms," he said softy, afraid if he spoke any louder his voice would break. 

It was now, when the group was surrounding him, that he noticed how tall the other boys were. Mitchell smiled the same smile that he had before, but now it seemed to be filled with malice and a terror took Charles' heart. "No, you looked quite wealthy when you asked us for help, you see, and you were so easy to convince, it was easy really." Mitchell shrugged and Charles felt tears welling in his eyes, but he refused to let them shed. One of the boys must've noticed, because before he realized, they were suddenly taunting him for crying and being over-sensitive. Charles was horrified, but his overwhelming emotion was shame and disappointment in himself, for trusting so easily. However, this thought didn't last very long before he found himself on the ground, his head suddenly pounding. There were hands upon him, searching his pockets till they found what they wanted. Fortunately, or unfortunately for the boys, Charles never made a habit of carrying cash with him, it made him all the more likely to spend it. Begrudgingly, the gang decided that perhaps a kicking bag would be appropriate payment for the cash they had imagined Charles had, the headlights of a car washed over the street and all Charles could hear was the sound of feet as they ran away. 

He forced himself to sit up, his feet just off the side of the curb, barely touching the road. He clung desperately at his stomach which hurt considerably, and the tears that he had been holding back all came out in a burst. He was sobbing, tears streaming down his face, he was pathetic and he knew it. He had thought that he'd gotten away from that, that he was a stronger person now who was deserving of the friends he had and perhaps something more. But he was only fooling himself, people saw him for what he truly was a source of money, and since he no longer had that, he supposed there was little worth to him. But he could work hard, make a name for himself in research, he was intelligent, that would be enough to get him through. Friends and love were luxuries that would not be granted to him, sure, the people back at the dorms liked him well enough for now, but that would only last so long. He felt his stomach churn, as he descended into a panic attack -- not for the first time, luckily, otherwise he might have thought he was dying from a heart attack, but he rode out the anxiety until it only lingered in the tips of his fingers. It was at this moment that it started to rain, Charles cursed his luck, it was only spitting at the moment but he was sure that it would be a downpour soon. "When it rains, it pours," he remarked miserably. 

Another car rushed past and Charles was hit with the absolute clarity that he needed to get off this road and back to the dorms, have a good nights rest and do his best with classes. How was he supposed to get home though? He'd have to call for help, but there was no one he could trust -- the people he knew on his floor didn't have cars and his mother and Kurt wouldn't bother to pick him up, he glanced through his phone contacts before pausing on a name. He hesitated, his heart in his throat, he should really try at least. 

"Hello?" Erik's voice was noticeable groggy, Charles glanced at the clock, it was 11, he'd probably woken his CA. He cursed himself silently, his heart in his throat as he realized how stupid this was.

"Uhm Erik, it's Charles, look I'm terribly sorry but I uh," his voice cracked and he winced, "I'm in a bit of trouble and I'm sure you have other things to do but I really need someone to pick me up --"  
  


"Where are you?" Erik interrupted, Charles was stunned for a second, he had expected to need to do more convincing.

"I -- uh -- I'm not particularly sure. I was near the biology buildings and I, uh, well I took a wrong turn and I seem to be off campus."

There was a pause on the other side of the line, "I'm going to need more information than that Charles, can you see anything around you?"

He took a good look at his surroundings, he made out a faint sign in the distance. "There's a walmart just down the street, I think?"

"I'll be there soon."

There was a click and Erik was gone. 

* * *

 

By the time that Erik had found Charles, he was thankful for the rain, he was drenched and freezing, but it wouldn't have been obvious that he was crying, he didn't need any more pity or questions from Erik, after all, the man was only acting because he was Charles CA and was contractually oblidged to do this sort of thing after all. Charles had managed to convince himself that that was all this was, squash any hope of romance between the two. Charles got into the car wordlessly, staring out the window as Erik started to drive.

After some silence, Charles saw Erik looking at him through the corner of his eye, "Are you going to say anything?" Erik demanded, clearly frustrated with the situation.

"I -- I'm sorry," Charles choked out, feeling the tears welling in his eyes, "I didn't, I didn't want to call you -- you were my only option, I swear." 

There was more silence, Erik clearly calculating what to say. "That's not what I mean," he said softly, Charles almost couldn't hear him, "Why were you out there?"

Charles paused, he didn't want Erik to think any less of him, but could he really think any less at this point? He surely thought the worst of Charles, he had made that obvious. He began to pull at a thread on his sleeve, not willing to meet Erik's eyes, he hadn't even noticed that Erik had pulled over in order to allow him to pay attention to Charles.

"Well, I was searching for my classes, you see," he chewed a little on his lower lip, "and I got a bit lost and so I asked for directions back to the dorms from some boys that walked past and well, they took me here and tried to rob me." His eyes grew dark, "but I didn't have anything on me, so jokes on them I guess."

Erik stared at Charles for a second before returning his gaze to the road, his grip tight on the wheel as he pulled out onto the street. " _Mein Gott_ ," he heard Erik whisper under his breath. 

"It's nothing I'm not used to," he paused, that was too much information, he pressed his lips together, turning his head back towards the window, not wanting to talk anymore. He was done talking for the night. That's what had gotten him into this entire mess to begin with. Erik must've sensed that Charles didn't want to talk anymore, because he didn't ask anymore questions and they drove in silence. 

The rain was pounding hard now and the visibility on Erik's windshield was distorted by the torrent of water. "Shit," Erik cursed loudly, startling Charles. "We'll have to pull over. I can't drive in this."

Charles felt his heart drop, it was funny, two hours ago and Charles would've been elated to be stuck in a confined space with Erik, but he couldn't think of anything worse at the moment. He hated this, he hated people being able to see this side of him, he didn't want to be something that people could easily take advantage of or pity. He hated that feeling. He pulled harder at the sleeves of his cardigan which had begun to stick to his skin with the cold. The movement clearly drew Erik's eye, "you're soaked Charles, you'll catch a cold -- take the cardigan off." 

Charles felt his eyes go wide, "Don't be ridiculous, I'm not trying to seduce you -- you look like a drowned rat, at the moment," Charles couldn't help but feel offended by that comment, but Erik continued, not seeming to miss a beat or realize that he had offended the person sitting opposite him. "I have a coat in the back it should be more than enough to cover you and keep you warm 'til the storm subsides." As Erik spoke, he reached behind him, grabbing a large amount of heavy material that made up his coat, but as he did so Charles caught a scent of his cologne and wanted to cry with how good it smelt. 

"Oh don't look so violated, I'll turn away while you take off your cardigan if that would make you feel better," Erik muttered, almost sounding frustrated as he turned away. Charles stared at the older man for a few seconds longer before quickly moving to peel his cardigan and undershirt off, but stopped there, not willing to peel off his jeans. He pulled the coat over him immediately feeling the benefit of his warmth, "Uhm, thanks." 

Erik turned around, raising an eyebrow at how Charles looked in his coat, "you owe me one, kid." There was something unreadable in Erik's expression but Charles couldn't quite place it, so he decided to ignore it and nestle into the warmth of the coat -- the fact it smelt like Erik, had nothing to do with it. 

"Make it two," Charles said, maybe too quietly for Erik to hear.


	5. Chapter 5

Erik awoke to the buzzing of his bedside table, he groaned, surely it wasn't time for him to wake up yet -- he felt as if he'd barely gotten any sleep. He rolled over, prepared to hit the snooze button when he noticed a number across the screen, he growled. Who was calling him at this hour? He debated not answering it, but realized that then he wouldn't be able to make the person on the other side of the phone regret their decision. "Hello?" His voice came out more sleepy than angry, he pursed his lips, annoyed that he wasn't able to give a menacing first impression.

" _Uhm Erik, it's Charles, look I'm terribly sorry but I uh,_ " Charles' voice cracked and suddenly Erik was wide awake, clearly there was something wrong, "I _'m in a bit of trouble and I'm sure you have other things to do but I really need someone to pick me up --_ " Erik interrupted before he had fully processed what Charles was saying, his mind a jumble of  _Charles. Trouble. Help._

" _I -- uh -- I'm not particularly sure. I was near the biology buildings and I, uh, well I took a wrong turn and I seem to be off campus._ " There was a hesitation in Charles' voice that he didn't like and damn it, he wasn't allowed to feel like this. Charles wasn't his to take care of in such a manner, sure as his CA he would always be available to help, but it became clear to Erik now that clearly he was beyond just being Charles' CA. Whether the boy felt the same or not. He'd be lying if he didn't say that he was a little glad that Charles had come to him and not that other kid he'd been hanging out with a lot, Tony. Charles hadn't given him enough information, however, to find him -- although, after some prompting, Erik had a decent idea of where he was. He grabbed his coat and headed out of the dorms in what should really be considered to be a record speed. 

Erik wasn't sure how to feel when he finally found Charles, the boy was sitting on the side of the road, absolutely drenched, his shirt clinging to him in a sinful way. He didn't say anything as he pushed the door open for the kid, he'd be ready to talk when he was ready. Erik certainly wasn't going to push it. He was more focused on the road and trying not to let his mind think those vile thoughts of the boy sitting beside him. But there was only so much he could take the Charles he was used to wouldn't shut up, he hated seeing the boy like this -- so utterly defeated.  "Are you going to say anything?" his voice had comeout a lot harsher than he originally intended if Charles' reaction was anything to go by. He could see the boy ready to cry and Erik really wanted to punch something, and cursed himself silently for putting that look on the boys face. 

"I -- I'm sorry," Charles choked out, practically sobbed "I didn't, I didn't want to call you -- you were my only option, I swear." Erik really wanted to kill something by this point, the boy thought he was upset because Charles had called him, that was absolutely ridiculous, and here Erik was, happy that Charles had thought of him to call rather than someone else when it turns out he really didn't want to. Adjusting his grip on the wheel, Erik tried to think of something to say. Ultimately he just wanted to swoop Charles away and make him happy, but he quickly batted that thought away. "That's not what I mean," he said softly, his voice almost betraying how upset he was, "why were you out there?" Erik paused, not sure if that was appropriate, surely the boy didn't want to talk to him about what happened, he was clearly upset, maybe this would only push him further away. But the words were already out there and there wasn't much to do about it. He glanced at Charles, the boy looked torn -- still visibly upset -- but torn over whether he should talk to Erik or not, Erik hoped for the later. The boy fiddled with his jumper, a nervous tick perhaps, but Erik was so distracted by it he almost didn't see the car coming their way. He cursed silently as he pulled over, clearly not in the position to drive 

He pulled over, which, granted was probably one of the better decisions that he had made that night. Now he could focus his attention fully on Charles, he turned on his hazards as he faced his body to Charles who seemed really interested in his jumper. Erik could wait, he had a decent amount of patience. "Well, I was searching for my classes," Erik nodded, not wanting to interrupt in case that stopped Charles from sharing any further. "And I got a bit lost and so I asked for directions back to the dorms from some boys that walked past and well, they took me here and tried to rob me," he continued, and Erik felt his face go cold. He hadn't been expecting that, he didn't know what he was expecting, he was about to say something, when he noticed the change in Charles' expression, "but I didn't have anything on me, so jokes on them I guess." Erik felt the anger welling up inside him, that was absolutely absurd. How could anyone do that to Charles, the boy was clearly harmless, a little bit ridiculous, but completely harmless. He could probably kill a few people right about now, he growled a German curse under his breath, not even realizing that he had done it. And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse Charles whispered "It's nothing I'm not used to."

Erik was rather surprised at the fact that he hadn't gone on a murderous rampage. His grip on the wheel was tight as he continued to drive, his nose flaring as he tried to keep his breathing level. The rain battered down hard on his windshield, he had very little visibility and he was almost grateful for that. "Shit," he cursed loudly, pounding on the steering wheel, not oblivious to the fact that Charles jumped, "We'll have to pull over. I can't drive in this." The truth was that they most likely could drive, he knew the route well enough, but he didn't exactly trust himself to not do anything stupid at the time. His eye was drawn by Charles playing with the sleeve of his jumper again, definitely a nervous habit, it also reminded Erik of the fact that Charles was completely soaked, even if his hair had started to dry a little with a soft little kink in it that made Erik want to run his hands through the soft strands. He quickly pushed that thought away. "You're soaked Charles, you'll catch a cold -- take the cardigan off,"  shit, that sounded bad, clearly Charles noticed too, his eyes far too wide now. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm not trying to seduce you -- you look like a drowned rat, at the moment," offence seemed to be the best defence at the moment, "I have a coat in the back it should be more than enough to cover you and keep you warm 'til the storm subsides."

As he turned to reach his coat and gave it to Charles, Erik noticed the boy looking particularly offended and he couldn't help but feel his irritation grow, he clearly wasn't going to try anything with the boy. ""Oh don't look so violated, I'll turn away while you take off your cardigan if that would make you feel better," he growled as he glanced out the window, listening to the sound of rain. He could tell that Charles was just staring at him -- or something, for a second before he changed. "Uhm, thanks." It was almost a whisper and Erik wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't looking for it, he waited a second longer before turning around, taking in the sight of Charles in his coat.

Shit, this really wasn't a good idea, he could see the top of Charles' collarbone and he wasn't really appreciating his luck at the moment. "You owe me one, kid." There was some more rustling and in his peripheral he saw Charles nestling into his coat and he figured at that point that he'd have to burn the damn thing, never being able to wear it again. 

"Make it two," it was barely there, but he had heard it. His heart stopped momentarily, before he cursed himself. Charles was your student, damn it, Erik. Were CAs even allowed to date members of their floor? 

"Take one as payment for walking in on you and that Tony kid kissing," he scowled, wait. Why had he said that, it had come out entirely bitter, Charles was sure to accuse him of being a creepy old man and flee the car in the torrential downpour. Charles just looked at him, shocked, a blush creeping up on his face. 

* * *

 

Charles could feel the blush rising on his face, he had forgotten that Erik had seen that, or more he was hoping that Erik had forgotten that.  "That was --," he started, unsure how to explain, "that wasn't a thing," he settled on, his voice barely a whisper. Erik was staring at him now.

"Certainly looked like a thing, Charles." Erik's voice was clipped almost as if he was judging Charles, disapproving of what he had done. 

"He, uhm, he learned that I'd never been kissed before and it was sort of a pity kiss you see," he blurted out, not looking at Erik, the blush on his face still high. He was sure that he was the colour of a beet, he'd never felt so exposed and embarrassed in front of someone. Erik didn't say anything, just returned his eyes to the road, apparently deeming that he could drive once more.

They were back at the dorms before he realized, Charles noticed that he was still in Erik's coat -- although, he'd never really forgotten. "Thank you for coming to get me, Erik. It was very kind of you," he whispered as he went to open the car door, "do you mind if I keep the coat, for a little bit, I'll return it drycleaned."

"Don't bother with the drycleaning, Charles, just return it in the morning," Erik said, almost harshly, before getting out the car, as Charles did. It was still raining, but a sort of, light downpour now, and Charles felt his embarrassment too much to say anything else to Erik as he hurried inside. It was late, but most people were still awake and Charles wasn't exactly feeling in the most talkative of moods as he hastily walked to his room and crawled into bed. Asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

 When Charles woke up there was an unfamiliar scent in his nose, he frowned before opening his eyes, realizing that he had used Erik's coat from last night as his blanket. He felt that familiar stir of embarrassment before quickly taking in a deep whiff of the smell, it really did smell great and Charles couldn't help but wonder how great it would be to smell Erik himself. His fantasies ran away with him for a while before he decided that the coat was currently doing more harm than good to him at that point of time. So, pulling on another one of his sweaters, he quickly left his room -- heading to knock on Erik's door. He felt his heart in his mouth as he heard some shuffling around in the room and then suddenly there was a shirtless Erik at the door. 

Charles really wasn't fond of his luck, and when he said "I came to give you back your coat," it more or less came out as one word and he'd be damned if Erik didn't look amused. 

"When I said return it in the morning, Charles, I didn't mean first thing," his voice was cool and almost mocking and Charles felt the familiar heat rise up in his face. And what was he really supposed to say to that? _Sorry, Erik, I thought I would have to since it was making me have all these fantasies about you that were really distracting and I'm almost positive that I wouldn't get any work done if it was still in my room?_ No, that would be ridiculous.

"Well, all the same, here you go," he muttered as he pressed the coat into Erik, fleeing before he could see another amused expression from Erik. 

 He had class soon, in any case, and he wasn't going to be late on his first day. No, that was not something that Charles Xavier would do. After some quick fussing over his appearance and making sure that he had everything, he headed off for the class. He arrived around half-an-hour early, which was always better than arriving a little late, or arriving on time and not managing to find a seat. And much to his surprise, Tony was there. He was almost grateful, he didn't want to face his first class alone, the thought was far too daunting. 

"Tony!" He called, waving a little, as Tony turned around, a big grin on his face as he strode over to Charles.

"What a surprise, Charles," Tony noted, looking very pleased with said surprise, "It seems I get to spend even more time with you than I originally thought."

"I'm just glad that someone's in my class, really," Charles said weakly, not particularly oblivious to the fact that Tony saw him as somewhat of a conquest. "Come on, let's get a seat," he mumbled quickly before heading into the class.

The class itself was relatively easy, it was calculus after all and Charles had done AP in highschool and for the most part, this class was just revision. Or well, it would be if Tony didn't keep sending him notes during the class, and really, who sent notes anymore? Surely it was all about the texting, and in an attempt to pay attention to both Tony and the professor, Charles somehow ended up agreeing to go on a date with Tony without really realizing what he had done. When it finally hit him, he wanted to escape. God, he really needed to talk to Raven, maybe she could help him out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here is a gross layout of the dorm rooms 
> 
> https://24.media.tumblr.com/d4568da333ff05580821a1ceb8949d95/tumblr_n20xykkCPQ1suyc35o1_500.png

Charles was panicking, he didn't want to go on a date with Tony -- there was no way he could act normal, nor could he pretend that he didn't have insanely crushing feelings for Erik and he'd by lying if he said that he wasn't afraid of Erik thinking that he was going out with Tony, it was bad enough that he'd caught them kissing -- which wasn't even anything, after all, it was just a pity kiss! He felt like he was going to throw up, he didn't think university was going to be like this, and after his existential crisis yesterday, he didn't really think that he was ready for anything like this, he clearly had some issues that he needed to work through -- issues that he thought he could just leave behind with Cain and Kurt, but who was he kidding, really? He was still the same, sad and lonely boy that he was a year ago, a few weeks at university wasn't going to change that.

He hurried back to residence, thankful for the fact that Tony had a class after and therefore wouldn't be accompanying him on his way back. Perhaps his best choice was to talk to Raven, she seemed to make sense of these sorts of things and she could easily be one of his best friends and she just made him feel comfortable, almost like a sister. He chewed on his lips nervously as he made his way up the stairs to his floor, hoping that he wouldn't bump into Erik. That would only be the cherry on the icing of his panic, thankfully, his path was clear and he was, within minutes, knocking on Raven's door frantically.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Jesus, I'm coming." Charles had never experienced such relief from a muffled reply from behind a door.The door swung open to reveal a Raven who had clearly just woken up, "Charles," came the surprised reply.

"I, uhm, I have a problem, can we talk?" He stuttered a little, but not half as much as he might've expected, Raven nodded before looking back into her room.

"It's a bit messy but come in, I promise you wont get infected or anything..." She joked, as Charles entered the room which was, as warned, messy but it wasn't anything bad, just clothes strewn everywhere, perks of being in a single room, he supposed -- although he always preferred his own to be clean, but that was more out of habit than anything. She took a seat on the bed, petting beside her for Charles to join her. "So what's up Charles?"

"I accidentally agreed to go on a date with Tony," which when he said it, sounded awfully trivial, but it was giving him a lot of anxiety and therefore it did matter even if it did make him feel a little bit silly.

Raven paused, "but you don't like Tony, you like Erik." Charles nodded as he played with the sleeve of his cardigan, "and you don't want to go on a date with Tony because?"

"Well, I mean, I don't know. What if Erik finds out?" Raven chuckled slightly, but Charles continued all the same, "I don't really know if I'm ready to date anyone in any case, and if by some miracle, Erik came here right now and asked me out, I'd be feeling the same anxiety --"

"But you'd probably be happier about it."

"But I'd probably be happier about it." Charles agreed, taking his stress out on his lower lip, "It's just I don't know how to be in a relationship, I don't know how to be with anyone and I think that maybe that's what Tony likes," his voice had become progressively quieter throughout the sentence and it was really when he realized what his main problem with it was, he didn't want to be used by Tony, he didn't want to be pursued because someone liked the idea of him and not actually Charles, himself.

"I see where you're coming from, I do, but you did agree to the date -- so know that we know you really don't want to date Tony and you probably don't want to lead him on, what are you going to do?"

"We never determined a date for our date so I guess I can talk to him about it, maybe say that I've got to much work so he's not hurt?" Charles asked, not really sure as to how to approach the situation, it seemed like the right thing to do, he supposed. He really didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings and Tony was a good guy, and he was nice to Charles and he didn't exactly want to lose their friendship.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, it's a polite let down and after all, it is Tony, I'm sure he'll bounce back." Charles nodded, Raven was right, Tony would understand and then he wouldn't have to do anything that made him uncomfortable and he could figure out what he wanted to do and how he was going to get himself back on track, and everything would be fine and dandy.

"Thanks Raven, this was really helpful I just really needed someone to talk to about it," he smiled, before getting up ready to leave, "what about you is there anything that you see yourself getting involved in?" He asked, his voice laced with suggestion and if he wasn't so observant he wouldn't have noticed the slight deepening of the pink of Raven's cheeks, his smile widened exponentially. "There is! Tell me, who is it?" He asked quickly all too excited by this notion, it was crazy how easily you could come to like someone when you lived in residence, after all time seemed to progress so much slower there, knowing someone for a week felt like a month and so forth. 

Raven's blush only deepened, but Charles wasn't going to let this go, she'd listened to him for too long, now he was going to reciprocate that. "Well, uhm, you know him," she started, and Charles' gaze served only to encourage her further, "all right, it's Hank." Charles' eyebrows shot up, he did not see that coming, they seemed so different yet he figured it could work, he took a long pause before speaking -- meanwhile, Raven was avoiding his gaze but not looking all too uncomfortable with telling Charles. 

"I didn't know you guys spoke that often, but that's great, it really is, Raven," Charles started, genuinely pleased, "I'm sure you two would be wonderful together and I will do whatever I can to make it happen - after all, he is my neighbour." The blonde girl beamed up at him as he spoke, "although, I really do have to go now, I have some work to do." He apologized quickly before leaving, hoping to get to his room without bumping into anyone unwanted. 

Unfortunately for Charles, his luck just wasn't that great, as he was leaving Raven's room, Erik was leaving his. He felt his heart jump and they locked eyes for a second, neither of them really sure of what to do - it was Erik who moved first. "Can I talk to you, Charles? In private?" The last part made Charles feel sick what were they going to talk about, the other night? The fact that Charles probably ruined Erik's carseat or his jacket or maybe the fact that Erik realized that Charles had an obsessive crush on him and he wanted to squash it out immediately or move Charles to another floor, that would be terrible, all his friends were here and that wouldn't be fair just because Charles called for Erik's help in a time of need. 

Charles, despite the flurry of thoughts going through his head, still managed to walk into Erik's room trying not to show any major signs of distress. "What's up?" He regretted it immediately, considering the voice crack that emerged from him, he silently scorned himself as he turned to face Erik. The older man was just looking at him as if trying to decide what to say, how to let Charles down easily, he mused darkly. But he could do this, he expected this, it didn't mean they couldn't be friends and it wasn't as if Charles ever had a chance and it was really his fault for being so obvious about his affections but really, how was he supposed to contain them? Erik was pretty much everything good and very little bad. 

"Look Charles, we just need to have a chat because I'm unsure of how to proceed," Erik managed, finally, his gaze burning holes into Charles' skin, and if Charles was being honest, he wasn't entirely sure what Erik was getting at, surely they could just continue having awkward conversations.

"Wha-what do you mean, Erik?" Charles said, the words feeling wrong as they left his mouth,

"I don't know how to act around you." Erik said, his gaze darkening, and Charles' furrowed his eyebrows as he chewed on his bottom lip.

"Look, Erik, it's really not a big deal, we can be friends, just forget about the other day." Charles said slowly, his voice quivering. Erik stared back at him for a couple of seconds before finally speaking.

"I don't want to be friends with you."

That, Charles was not expecting, he felt his heart drop significantly, he felt sick. "I thought - I didn't -- I thought we were," he muttered quickly, trying to bite back the tears, he wasn't willing to stay here and listen to Erik list the reasons why they couldn't be friends, why he didn't want to be friends, so Charles did the only thing he could do, he left before he could cry in front of Erik or before things got worse than they already were.


End file.
